"Organic & Fair" – the new special show at BioFach 2009 3. N

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In this issue
1. European natural cosmetics standard finalized
2. "Organic & Fair" – the new special show at BioFach 2009
3. New international organic research centre in Denmark
4. Bio Suisse calls for quality strategy from Swiss Federal Council
5. Spain: No coexistence rules yet for GM crops
6. Survey for EU organic wine regulation
7. EU project to cut certification costs
8. Europe's secret plan to boost GM crop production
9. USA: What is the impact of the financial and economic crisis?
Events
Newsticker
1. European natural cosmetics standard finalized
It took six years of negotiations to reconcile all the interests of the major European labellers of na tural
cosmetic products. The new European guidelines on c ertified organic and natural cosmetics have
been on the Internet since 4 November 2008 and are to come into force in January 2009. The new
standard will make it possible to compare products, and the conditions for international trade will be
improved.
The guidelines are to be posted on the Internet for two months, and the working group is asking for
comments to be submitted by 4 January 2009 to: info@cosmos-standard.org
www.cosmos-standard.org
www.organic-market.info
2. "Organic & Fair" – the new special show at BioFa ch 2009
A new special show is to enhance the coming BioFach in Nuremberg. It will have a separate display
area of some 1,000 m² with a special product presen tation similar to the novelty stand. A Fairtrade
Cafe will offer visitors snacks and coffee speciali ties, and a "Fair & Ethical Trade Forum" will be
included in the congress programme. The new special show is located in hall 3, which also houses the
novelty stand, Internet cafe, an Indian restaurant and the trade press stand.
www.biofach.de/organic-fair
3. New international organic research centre in Den mark
The Minister of Agriculture, Eva Kjer Hansen's, has welcomed the new international centre for organic
research in Denmark: "With the establishment of ICR OFS as an open international research centre, it
is my ambition that Denmark becomes the leading cou ntry for increasing international cooperation on
organic research. Through shared knowledge and coop eration across countries and continents, all of
us will get the best out of the research resources. Further, organics has some interesting potentials in
relation to sustainable production of foods and ada ptation to climate changes."
ICROFS has just published its first 9-page newslett er.
www.icrofs.org/Pages/Publications/2008_1.pdf
www.icrofs.org

4. Bio Suisse calls for quality strategy from Swiss Federal Council
Bio Suisse welcomes the Swiss government's negotiat ions with the EU for an Agricultural Free Trade
Agreement. However, the aim of the agreement should be to combine the reduction of customs duties
with the integration of the Swiss food and agriculture sector. The Swiss organic fed eration thinks this
needs a policy strategy and the inclusion of the wh ole value creation chain. "The quality strategy is
based on economic, ecological and social prosperity , in contrast to a purely quantity-based strategy t o
secure the market position with the lowest possible prices," is the wording of a press release from Bi o
Suisse.
Achievements like food safety, comprehensive declar ation, environmental protection and animal
welfare, which apply to the whole production, should not be under mined.
www.bio-suisse.ch
5. Spain: No coexistence rules yet for GM crops
Three years after the announcement of a national mo nitoring programme by the Spanish government
to control the coexistence of GM and conventional f arming, not even a draft measure on this has been
prepared and the subject has been shelved until fur ther notice. In the opinion of the Director General
for Industry and Food Markets, Francisco Mombiela, the question of coexistence has "no priority at th e
moment". In contrast to Spain, ten EU countries hav e already regulated coexistence with minimum
separations between GM and conventional farming to reduce the possibility of genetic contamination
and enable the EU labelling standards to be met.
There was a proposal for a planned separation of up to 200 metres between GM and conventional
farming, but no agreement was reached. Spain grows 70% of the genetically modified variety Bt corn
in Europe, which equates to 75,148 ha.
www.elpais.com
6. Survey for EU organic wine regulation
The EU Commission is to commence discussions on an organic wine regulation in the c oming months.
The ORWINE project www.orwine.org has analysed the organic wine sector. A variety of producers
and traders would like a standard, clearly defined EU regulation on organic wine. Organic wine
competes directly with conventional wine and must t herefore have a comparable quality; a zero input
arrangement (e.g. a general ban on the use of addit ives and processing substances for wine-making)
would lead to an unacceptable economic risk for the producer.
The ORWINE project would like to hear and consider the detailed views of those affected before
finalizing its recommendation to the EU Commission. An Internet survey intended for all organic wine
producers and their organizations in Europe is to b e completed by the end of November 2008.
www.surveygizmo.com

7. EU project to cut certification costs
The certification processes are associated with con siderable costs for organic farmers. The Certcost
project (Economic analysis of certification systems for organic food and farming) that started on 1
September 2008 aims to optimize the certification p rocedures European-wide. The project is funded
with a total of 2.7 million euros from the 7th EU Researc h Framework Programme. Besides FiBL, nine
other European institutions are participating, incl uding the Aarhus University, Denmark, Aberystwyth
University, Great Britain, Ege University, Izmir/Tu rkey, and Kassel University, Germany. The project i s
directed by Professor Stephan Dabbert of Hohenheim University.
www.fibl.org:80
8. Europe's secret plan to boost GM crop production
The European heads of government are secretly prepa ring an unprecedented campaign to spread the
production of GM crops throughout Europe, as reveal ed by confidential documents obtained by the
British newspaper "The Independent".
The documents are the minutes of unofficial meeting s between representatives of the 27 European
governments convened on 17.7 and 10.10.2008 by Manu el Barroso, the pro-GM President of the
European Commission. The meetings were chaired by h is head of cabinet Joao Vale de Almeida.
The meetings were mainly concerned with speeding up the introduction of genetically modified crops
in Europe and persuading the public to accept them.
The documents call for "an emotion-free, fact-based dialogue on the high standards of the European
GM policy", in which the industry, economic partner s and science are to play a key role.
www.independent.co.uk
9. USA: What is the impact of the financial and eco nomic crisis?
Whole Foods Market based in Austin/Texas saw a tota l sales increase of 13% for its fiscal fourth
quarter, comparable-store sales gained just 0.4%, c ompared to an 8.2% increase in the prior year
reports Mediapost. For the first five weeks of the first quarter, which ended this week, the company
says comparable-store sales decreased 3.3%.
A recent analysis by Nielsen reports that organic s ales now total $4.7 billion, with dollar sales up 2 3%
and unit sales up 20% compared with a year ago. In the most recent period (through early September,
before October's market meltdown), growth slowed to 13% for dollar sales and 8% for unit sales. The
Natural Marketing Institute expects growth will tap er off to about 10% in 2008 and 2009, and 5% by
2020.
www.mediapost.com
4th Organic Marketing Forum in Poland
EkoConnect and its cooperation partners Ekoland Pol and, the Organic Retailers Association (ORA)
and the Polish Agricultural Advisory Service (CDR) invite the industry to the 4th Organic Marketing
Forum in Poland. About 450 participants are expecte d from 30 countries.
www.organic-marketing-forum.org
+++ The Lao Coffee Association is to export the first o rganic coffee from Laos next year. The
plantations have been converted to organic with the help of the German and French
governments and meet the standards of the EU Organi c Regulation. The target markets are
Japan, the USA and Europe.
+++ A new film dealing with the necessity of changing t o organic food for children is being launched
on the market in France.
www.unplusbio.org
+++ The New Grammar School in Nuremberg has offered all pupils a 100 % organic meal since
October and has installed the first organic milk sh ake vending machine in Germany.

BioFach globally present
BioFach
Nürnberg, Germany
19.-22.02.2009
www.biofach.de
BioFach America
24.-26.09.2009
www.biofach-america.com
BioFach América Latina
15.-17.10.2009
www.biofach-americalatina.com
BioFach China
27.-29.05.2009
www.biofach-china.com
BioFach India
29.04.-1.5.2009
www.biofach-india.com
BioFach Japan
7.-9.10.2009
www.biofach-japan.com
Imprint:
NürnbergMesse GmbH
Messezentrum, D-90471 Nürnberg
Managing Director: Bernd A. Diederichs
Commercial register no.:
p. 761, limited company, Nuremberg
Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board:
Dr. Ulrich Maly, Lord Mayor of Nuremberg
www.biofach.de/imprint
Editor of BioFach Newsletter:
Kai Kreuzer
Tel. +49 (0) 66 41. 51 88
Fax +49 (0) 66 41. 51 89
Advertisements in BioFach Newsletter:
Sven Lamlé
Tel. +49 (0) 911.86 06 - 84 49
Fax +49 (0) 911.86 06 - 84 47
sven.lamle@nuernbergmesse.de
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